“Rufus,” he said with a definitive nod. Just like that, he was on my side against a common enemy.
Elric turned to Bastian. “The bandits are heading to a cave about a day’s ride from here. They’ll hide there until you’ve passed them and then ambush you from behind.”
Bastian glared. “How do you know?”
“Because it’s where they leave the king’s portion of the coin and goods they loot.”
I tilted my head. “I’m sorry…the what?”
Elric let out a breath. “The Shrike king pays our king a cut of their tolls and stolen goods to entice your father to ignore their dealings.”
“Why the fuck would he do that?”
Bastian looked at me significantly. “To keep the people scared. Terrified people are easier to control if they think you’ll offer safety. And to let him levy whatever taxes he wants, not to mention lining his coffers with stolen funds.”
I cursed. “So…greed. Greed is the answer.”
Rufus stood, skirting around Elric to stand at my side. “Know a back way into the cave, mistress. I can lead you there, let you beat them at their own game.”
“It’s getting dark, and there’s no moon tonight,” Bastian called down to the men. “We make camp and move out at first light.” He shoved Elric against the tree. “You knew.”
Elric got in his face. “I suspected! I didn’t know until your father bribed me, and even then I doubted my suspicions. You don’t accuse the king of treason without proof!”
Bastian was ready to snap. “You kept silent in exchange for a fucking bride?
Elric shoved him back. “She’s not just any fucking bride. Even if you’ve always been too blind to see it! What fate might befall her if I don’t offer her protection? And I disobeyed orders to be here now, and will see the king punished for his crimes,which is more than we’ve been able to say about you, so get the fuck down from that high horse,Your Highness.”
I shoved between them before fists were thrown. “We can decide what to do with him later. For now, let’s let said fucking bride out of the wagon. It’s hellishly uncomfortable in there.”
Now Elric rounded on me. “You kidnapped her?”
I shrugged. “Call it what you will. Say a goddamn word to her about it, and I’ll tell the soldiers down there what you were willing to hide for the king.”
“I wasn’t?—”
I put a hand up to stop him. “Not a word.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
BASTIAN
“The ladies require shelter.” Elric puffed out his chest, clearly ready to dig in his heels and argue with me.
We’d come to a precarious agreement with him that we’d keep quiet about the king’s treason for now if he pretended Eleanor’s presence here was part of the plan. He’d defied my father to come after us, which had to count for something, but he was still annoyingly pompous.
We’d started to set up camp in a circle, planning to put Eleanor in the middle. Rufus had taken a liking to Godric, so we’d left the archer to supervise getting the boy clean and fed, then he’d keep an eye on him during the night.
Sigrid grabbed my ass. “I thought you were uptight when we met, but you’re the fun kind. This motherfucker is another kind entirely.”
Elric squared his shoulders, but didn’t give in. “A tent. They require privacy from the soldiers.”
Sigrid breathed a laugh, and Elric whipped his angry expression towards her. “Even ifyoudon’t, my betrothed is as yet a lady, and I won’t have her reputation sullied by you.”
Sigrid lunged forward, but I caught her around the waist and pulled her back against my body. “It’ll take two minutes to put up a makeshift tent from the wagon supplies. Let him have his decorum.”
Sigrid gritted her teeth, but dropped her head back onto my shoulder invitingly. “How do you know it’s not how he plans to separate her from the rest of us so he can take her back to the castle in the middle of the night?”
I sighed, recognizing that the best option meant I wouldn’t get to sleep with Sigrid in my arms. “You’d better stay with her, then.”
